Diablos Top Dolphins, Capture First O.C. Lacrosse Title

With the score tied in overtime and the ball in their possession after a timeout, Mission Viejo coach Ryan Brent huddled with his offensive players to diagram the next play. But senior captain Spencer Taylor wasn’t listening. He had other plans.

When the clock started, Taylor took the ball near midfield and darted toward the Dana Hills cage. As he approached, Taylor backed off and veered to his right with his back to the goalie. For a split second the defense relaxed, and that’s all he needed.

Taylor spun and whipped a shot passed Dolphins goalie Journ Galvan with 3:25 left in overtime for the game-winner as Mission Viejo won, 13-12, to capture its first lacrosse title at the US Lacrosse Southern Section Orange County Division 2 Championships Thursday night before a frenzied crowd at Aliso Niguel High.

The top-seeded Diablos (12-8) will play Saturday for the USL Southern Section Division 2 Championship against Loyola, the No. 1 seed from Los Angeles, at Redondo Union High at 4:45 p.m.

Dana Hills, the No. 3 seed, ends its season at 9-11.

“I’m excited,” said Brent, just before receiving a Gatorade shower from his players. “They didn’t run the [final] play at all, but it’s good to see these seniors going on [to the championship game]. Getting the opportunity to play Loyola [and] being able to unify the Southern Section championship means a whole lot.”

Taylor, who will be playing for Brigham Young University this fall, scored four goals, three in the second and third periods to match Dana Hills’ total. But none was bigger than his goal in overtime to keep the Diablos playing one more game.

“I watched the ball and pretended to pull back, but then I saw a hole [in the defense] and shot it,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t be more happy to end the season like that. It was my biggest goal. Hopefully we can get another title [Saturday].”

Taylor’s goal would not have come had it not been for a couple of his teammates.

The Dolphins took a 12-11 lead on a goal by Marc Chughes with 4:40 left, and managed to keep the ball from the Diablos for the next four minutes until turning it over on a foul. After calling a timeout with 13 seconds left, the Diablos worked the ball to attacker Robbie Romero behind the net. Romero found Ian Nickel in front with a pass and Nickel whipped an underhand shot past Galvan to tie score with 6.8 ticks remaining.

Then, in overtime, Dana Hills won the draw and sophomore Logan Warren, who had earlier tied the score at 11-11, ran unheeded and had a clear shot at the Diablos' net. But senior goalie Matt Meissner made the difficult save and ran the ball out of harm's way before the Diablos called timeout to allow Taylor to win the game.

“He’s the best player I’ve ever had,” Brent said of Taylor. “He just put the team on his shoulders and found the net. But it would not have been possible without that play by our goalie. That was one of the best lacrosse plays I’ve ever seen.”

Meissner finished with an incredible 17 saves, while Galvan ended with seven.

The Diablos' victory overshadowed a strong performance by Dolphins midfielder Michael Paul, who scored four goals. The teams combined for 10 goals in the opening 12 minutes, with Dana Hills scoring five consecutive goals within five minutes to take a 6-4 lead after the first quarter. But neither team could get more than a two-goal advantage the rest of the game. Alex Truman’s goal with 5:08 remaining gave Mission Viejo its first lead since the opening four minutes of the game.